Orthodontia appliance



web 527, 1934. J. E. JOHNSON ORTHODONTIA APPLIANCE Filed July 29. 1931 Patented Mar. 27, 1934 3 Claims.

This invention relates ingeneral to orthodontia appliances of the arch bow type. Appliances of this type usually comprise an arch bow formed of spring wire curved to conform approximately 7 to the normal dental arch, the ends of the arch bow being anchored to suitable anchor teeth such as molars, and the intermediate portion of the bow being connected to the tooth or teeth to be 7 moved or regulated. The connection between the arch bow and the teeth to be treated is usually made by bands which rigidly encircle the teeth and are provided with suitable clamping devices or locks to secure the arch bow to the tooth 3 bands.

6 One object of my invention is to provide in an orthodontia appliance, a novel and improved construction and combination of an arch bow and means for connecting it to a tooth to be treated, whereby said arch bow shall be positively 0 held against movement relatively to said tooth laterally in or out of the general plane of the arch bow but shall be free to move longitudinally in its general plane relatively to said tooth so that the length of said arch how can be easily and 5 quickly adjusted without disturbing the connection of the arch bow to the tooth being treated.

Another object of my invention is to provide a novel and improved lock or clamping means for connecting an arch bow to a tooth band which 0 shall be strong, durable and positive in operation,

and shall be simple in construction and use.

Another object is to provide a lock or clamp for connecting an arch bow to a tooth band which shall comprise only twosimple interlocking parts to receive and hold the arch bow between them, one part to be rigidly secured to the tooth band and the other part to be removably attached to the first-mentioned part.

' A further object is to provide a novel or improved lock or clamp of this character which shall permit free longitudinal sliding of the arch bow relatively to the clamp in substantially the plane of the arch bow, whereby easy and quick adjustment of the arch bow shall be possible.

Other objects are to provide a lock or clamp of the character described in which the part to be secured to a tooth band is channel-shaped with the flanges of the channel spaced apart a distance adequate to nicely receive the arch bow, and the other part is shaped to longitudinally slide over the first-mentioned part and hold the arch bow in said channel, the two parts being constructed to prevent relative lateral movement; to provide such a lock which can be made of sheet metal, and to obtain other advantages UNITED STATES on'rnonon'rm APPLIANCE Joseph E. Johnson, Louisville, Ky. Application July 29, 1931, Serial No. 553,705

(or. s2 19) PATENT OFFICE and results as will be brought out by the following description.

Referring to the accompanying drawing in which corresponding and like parts are designated throughout the several views by the same reference characters.

Figure 1 is a plan view of an orthodontia appliance embodying my invention, showing it mounted upon a model of thedental arch.

Figure 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a tooth band to be applied to a tooth to be treated and having secured thereon one part of my improved lock.

Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the first step in assembling the parts of my improved lock.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary plan view of a tooth band, a portion of the arch bow and my lock, showing the next step in assembling the parts of the lock.

Figure 5 is a perspective view showing the parts of the lock completely assembled and connecting an arch bow to a tooth band.

Figure 6 is a transverse vertical sectional View through a tooth band and my lock in assembled relation, and

Figure 7 is a side elevation of the parts as shown in Figure 4 of the drawing.

Specifically describing the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the reference character A designates an arch bow which may be of any suitable construction. In the present instance the arch bow has been shown of the same construction as that described and claimed in my copending application Serial No. 554,704 filed July 29, 1931 and comprising two parallel strands 1 of 'spring wire which have terminal tubes 2 secured to their ends for attachment to anchor tubes 3 mounted on anchor bands 4 which rigidly encircle anchor :teeth such as molars 5.

The intermediate portions of the arch bow A are connected to the teeth 6 to be regulated or treated, by tooth bands '7 generally of known construction to which are connected looks or clamps B embodying my invention and by which the arch bow is secured to the tooth bands 7. The locks B are all of the same construction, each comprising a main part 8 which is channel shaped and has its flanges 9 of a width and spaced apart a distance adequate to nicely receive the strands 1 of the arch bow between them, as clearly shown in Figures 3, 5 and6. The base portion 10 of the main part 8 is rigidly secured as by soldering or brazing to the outer side of a tooth band, with the channel disposed approximately horizontal, or approximately perpendicular to the axis of the tooth band. The flanges 9 of the channel diverge outwardly from the base 10 to interlock with a closure part 11. This closure part is also approximately channel-shaped and comprises a base 12 at the edges of which are flanges 13 which diverge in the direction away from the base and are spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the distance between the outer sides of the flanges 9 of the main part 8. The closure part 11 of the lock can be attached to and removed from the main part 8 by a relative longitudinal sliding and telescoping movement of the parts, so as to form an opening between said parts with its axis approximately perpendicular to the axis of the tooth band.

In use of the appliance, a tooth band '7 having the main part 8 of a lock secured thereto is applied to a tooth to be treated, in the usual manner. The arch bow A is then placed in position with the strands of wire 1 lying within the channel of the main part 8, as clearly shown in Figure 3 of the drawing. Thereupon, the closure part of the lock is slipped laterally over the arch bow and longitudinally on one end of the main part 8 as shown in Figures 3 and 4. For this purpose, I have devised a special form of pliers the jaws C of which have notches D in their noses, corresponding in shape to the sides of the closure part of the look, by which said part can be gripped as shown in Figure 3.

Then the closure part is completely slid upon the main part with the arch bow between them, as shown in Figures 4 and 5. This manipulation of the closure part may be conveniently performed with a special pliers the jaws E of which have notches F in their noses to embrace the arch bow when the jaws abut the ends of the parts 8 and-11 of the look, as shown in Figures 4 and 7, so that upon movement of the jaws of the pliers toward each other, the closure part 11 can be easily forced upon the main part 8. After the parts have been so assembled it may be desirable to tighten the flanges 13 of the closure part upon the flanges 9 of the main part, and this may be easily accomplished by use of the pliers C, as shown in Figure 6 of the drawing.

With such a construction, it will be observed that the two parts of the lock will positively interlock with each other against relative lateral movement so as to firmly hold the arch bow in proper relation to the tooth band against lateral movement in or out of the general plane of the arch bow. At the same time, the arch bow is free to slide longitudinally in its own plane through the lock, which is particularly desirable in adjusting the arch bow.

The parts of the lock can be easily separated to disconnect the arch bow from a tooth band, by reversing the operation above-described for applying the closure part to the main part. In other words, the ends of the closure part may be gripped between the jaws E of the pliers, as shown in Figure '7, whereupon the closure part can be pushed or pulled longitudinally off the main part.

From the foregoing, it will be observed that the lock can be easily and quickly made or sheet metal, and comprises only two simple parts which can be easily and quickly connected and disconnected without special adjustments that are incident to orthodontia appliances wherein one part of the lock or clamp is rigidly or positively connected to the arch bow. At the same time, the possibilities of accidental separation of the parts of the lock or of the arch bow from the lock, is reduced to a minimum.

While I have shown and described my invention as embodied in certain details of construction, it should be understood that this is primarily for the purpose of illustrating the principles of the invention and that many modifications and changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims when construed in the light of the prior art.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. An orthodontia appliance comprising an arch bow, a band to be applied to a tooth to be moved, a lock for attaching said arch bow to said band including a channel-shaped main part secured on said band with the channel approximately perpendicular to the axis of the band to nicely receive an adjacent portion of said arch bow, and a channel-shaped closure part to interlockingly slide longitudinally upon said main part to hold said arch bow in said channels against displacement laterally in or out of the general plane of said arch bow.

2. An orthodontia appliance comprising an arch bow, a band to be applied to a tooth to be moved, a, lock for attaching said bow to said band including a channel shaped main part secured on said band with the channel approximately perpendicular to the axis of the band to nicely receive an adjacent portion of said arch bow, the flanges of said channel diverging outwardly from said band, and a channelshaped closure part to slip laterally over said arch bow and having its flanges converging from its base and spaced apart to nicely receive between them said flanges of the main part' upon relative longitudinal sliding movement of said parts, to hold said arch bow between said parts against displacement laterally in or out of the general plane of said arch bow.

3. The combination with a tooth band, of a lock for securing an arch bow to the tooth band comprising a channel-shaped main part secured to the tooth band with its channel perpendicular to the axis of said band to receive a portion of an arch bow, and a closure part to interlock with said main part upon relative longitudinal sliding movement of said parts in a direction perpendicular to the axis of said band and hold said arch bow between said parts.

JOSEPH E. JOHNSON. 

